


Shellshocked

by Robin Hood (kjack89)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, April Fools' Day, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Anxiety, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 04:47:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18328919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/Robin%20Hood
Summary: Steve foils a prank attempt at Tony's lab. The question is — why?





	Shellshocked

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ReginaCole](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReginaCole/gifts).



> For Reagan — happy birthday, m'dear! You deserve all the fluff <3
> 
> Usual disclaimer. Please be kind and tip your fanfic writers in the form of comments and/or kudos!

Peter Parker crouched low in the hallway, just around the corner from Tony’s lab. He was dressed, rather suspiciously, in all black over his Spider-suit. Not that it would help with the various heat sensors and whatever else Tony had guarding his lab, but he just didn’t think that a covert operation would be complete without an all-black get-up.

Well, all-black minus his backpack. Which kind of threw the whole look off, but there wasn’t a lot he could do about that now.

“Karen?” he asked quietly.

“Scan complete. One infrared night vision camera pointed at door, three on random sweeps throughout lab. Heat sensor at door and by computer equipment.”

“And DUM-E?”

“Per your earlier calculations, DUM-E is located in a blind spot of the cameras and away from any heat sensors. Now you just need to get through the door.”

Peter grinned. “And I’m guessing this is where the suit’s stealth mode comes in?”

“You guessed correctly.”

There was a slight ripple in the skin of his suit, and Peter’s grin widened. “All systems go for Operation Whipped Cre—”

A looming figure stepped out of the shadows and Peter froze as Steve Rogers folded his arms across his chest and gave Peter a far-too-familiar disapproving look. “Peter,” he said, his voice firm. “What are you doing here?”

Peter slowly stood, pasting on a smile even if Steve couldn’t see it behind his mask. “Oh, uh. Me? I’m just, uh, that is, I was, um, see I left something in…”

Steve gave him a look and Peter’s mumbled excuses trailed off. For as much as Peter claimed a sort of immunity to Captain America’s lecture mode, having sat through probably hundreds of those stupid videos at school, it somehow didn’t compare to the real deal standing directly in his path to Tony’s lab and clearly not buying a word of what he was selling. “Do you want to try that again?” Steve asked, and peter sighed.

“It’s April Fool’s Day tomorrow,” Peter said, looking down at the floor. “Or, I guess today, I dunno what time it is.”

“It’s 1:13 a.m.,” Karen told him helpfully.

“Right, so it’s April Fool’s Day today, and I was just going to play a small prank on Mr. Stark.” Steve’s expression didn’t change and Peter squirmed as if he could _feel_ Steve’s gaze boring through him. “It was going to be harmless!” Peter hastened to add. “DUM-E’s been acting up and spraying Mr. Stark with the fire extinguisher again so I was going to pretend to have fixed him but then have DUM-E spray him with, well…”

He shrugged his backpack off and opened it, and Steve reached inside and pulled out a canister of Redi-Whip. “Whipped cream,” he said, a little incredulous.

Peter shrugged, glad that his mask hid the blush he could feel spreading across his face. “Yeah. Like I said, harmless.”

The corners of Steve’s mouth twitched and for a moment, it looked like he was trying not to smile. But then he set the whipped cream back in Peter’s backpack and straightened. “Harmless though it may seem,” he said, slipping back into his stern tone, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“But, Cap, sir—”

“Go back to bed, Peter,” Steve ordered, and Peter’s shoulders slumped.

He turned obediently to head back to his room before pausing and glancing back at Steve. “Mr. Rogers, sir? What’re you doing outside Mr. Stark’s lab?”

Steve looked almost taken aback by the question. “I—” He broke off and cleared his throat, his voice turning gruff. “I was patrolling when I heard a disturbance. You’re not as covert as you think you are. Now go to bed.”

Peter opened his mouth to protest but the look on Steve’s face told him it probably wasn’t worth it. He took off down the hallway, sulking slightly at the loss of his carefully planned prank and too distracted to notice the way Steve faded back into the shadows outside Tony’s lab, as if still waiting for something.

“Sorry for not noticing him sooner,” Karen told Peter, who just shrugged.

“Wasn’t your fault. I didn’t think Cap was going to be on patrol.”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Karen said. “According to the logs, Natasha is supposed to be on duty tonight, not Captain America.”

Peter frowned, just slightly. “That’s weird,” he said off-handedly. “I wonder…” He trailed off and shook his head. “Whatever. Now I gotta figure out what to do with six cans of whipped cream.”

“This seems like a task that your friend Ned would be well-equipped to help you with.

Peter grinned. “Karen, you’re a genius! Let’s go video-chat Ned, see what he thinks.”

He sped up as he headed toward his room, all thoughts of Steve lurking outside Tony’s lab forgotten.

* * *

 

Steve glanced through the lab door at Tony, who was tinkering with something electronic that Steve wouldn’t be able to identify in a million years. Despite being in his favorite place and doing his favorite thing, Tony’s shoulders were tense, and he occasionally paused to glance around the lab.

“FRIDAY, will you alert Tony that I’m coming in?” Steve asked.

FRIDAY didn’t respond but Tony jumped slightly before swiveling to face the door, a small, slightly relieved smile crossing his face. “Captain,” he acknowledged, leaning back in his chair as Steve strode into the lab. “What can I do for you?”

“Nothing,” Steve told him. “Just wanted to bring you a cup of coffee.”

Tony accepted the cup, his brow furrowing slightly as he did. “You’re bringing me coffee now?” he asked skeptically. “What did I do?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Nothing,” he repeated. “Can’t I just do something nice for you every now and then?”

“No,” Tony said, and he glanced down at the coffee, suddenly wary. “What did you do to the coffee? Is this an April Fool’s thing?”

“Definitely not,” Steve said, perching on the edge of the table and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Do you honestly think I would do that to you?”

Tony shrugged and took a tentative sip of coffee. “No,” he admitted. “But, y’know, you’re the one always preaching about being on your guard and whatever else.”

“And whatever else,” Steve repeated with a slow smile. “Glad to know you pay attention when I talk.”

Tony grinned. “Oh, I pay attention alright,” he murmured. “Just not to what you’re saying.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Anyway,” he said forcefully, “I also came in to let you know that you can relax. No one’s going to be pranking you in the lab today.”

Tony’s smile faded. “How do you know that?” he asked, clearly suspicious.

Steve shrugged. “I have my ways,” he said. When Tony’s expression didn’t change, Steve sighed. “Fine, I know because I caught Parker, Rhodey, Happy _and_ Bruce trying to sneak in last night.”

“Clearly I need better friends,” Tony said, barking a short laugh as he shook his head. Then he paused, a strange look crossing his face. “Wait, you caught them? What were you doing, standing guard?” His tone clearly indicated that he was joking, but Steve just shrugged again and Tony stared at him. “Wait, why—”

“You don’t like surprises,” Steve said simply.

Tony blinked. “Excuse you, I love surprises.”

“No, you don’t. You jump at the slightest noise out of place, you keep meticulous tabs on everyone and everything, and you can’t tell me that you didn’t break out in a cold sweat when FRIDAY told you that I was coming in.” Tony looked away and Steve took a deep breath before adding, “You have nightmares, and anxiety. I’ve seen you double and triple-checking that we’re all there when we go out on patrols. And last year, for Clint’s birthday—” Tony winced at the reminder. “You almost took Natasha out when you caught her sneaking around to surprise him because she startled you. If you had been in your full armor instead of just the gauntlets—”

“You don’t have to remind me,” Tony said, his voice low.

Steve nodded. “So no,” he finished softly, “you _don’t_ like surprises.”

Tony stared at him for a long moment. “Have you been eavesdropping on my therapy sessions?” he asked, a little weakly.

Steve shook his head. “No,” he said. “But I know what to look for.”

“How?”

It was Steve’s turn to look away. “We called it shellshock, back in my day,” he said quietly. “Some of the kids in my neighborhood — their dads or their uncles came back from the Great War but they...they didn’t come back the same. One time Buck and I were playing on the stairs in our building, just horsing around when we must’ve hit something or made some noise. Mr. Pesetski from across the hall came out of his place and I—” He shook his head. “I had never seen someone like that. It was like he wasn’t himself, and it took Bucky and me a long time to talk him down.” His expression hardened. “But then I went to war, and now—” He broke off before forcing a smile as he looked back at Tony. “Well, like I said, I know what to look for.”

Tony nodded slowly. “Well,” he said after a long moment, “thanks for keeping the lab prank-free.”

“It was nothing,” Steve told him with a genuine smile this time. “The least I could do after everything.”

He turned as if to leave but Tony reached out and grabbed his wrist, holding him in place. Steve glanced down at him, a wrinkle creasing his brow, and Tony hesitated before asking, “Why, though?”

There were a multitude of questions contained in that one ‘why’, and a multitude of answers that Steve could give, but looking down at Tony, at his warm, brown eyes and the AC/DC t-shirt he wore as much like armor as his suit, Steve knew there was only one answer that he wanted to give.

So he leaned in and he kissed him.

Tony’s eyes went wide but before Steve could even blink Tony had let go of his wrist to grab him by the shirt and drag him closer. Steve laughed lightly against Tony’s lips. “Does that answer your question?”

“Maybe,” Tony said, a grin slowly curling the edges of his mouth. “And here you thought I hated surprises.”

Steve matched Tony’s grin and tone. “Was this surprising to you?” he asked, his voice just a little breathy. “Here I thought you were supposed to be observant.”

“Ouch, really, Rogers? You want to come for my scientific observation skills at a time like this?” Tony chuckled as Steve looked abashed, reaching up to cup Steve’s cheek, running his thumb lightly over the slight blush that had risen in his cheeks. “You’re the only one who can call me out and get away with it.”

“I’m fairly certain that’s not true,” Steve started, and Tony rolled his eyes, even though he was still grinning.

“Just shut up and kiss me again.”

And Steve was only too happy to oblige.


End file.
